Sins of the Sigma

“So this project Nova is some sort of…weapon?” She could
tell by the clueless looks of her peers that they had no clue what exactly it
was. “Shogun Chi manipulated Lynn into finding this project…and she hasn’t
returned” Maya informed them sitting with her hands folded across her abdomen.
The room fell deaf, the scent of burning cigarette littered the air; she could
tell by the periodic repetitive motions that everyone were thinking.

“This has the same implications of project Chronos” a male
agent finally said, standing to full form. “What does project Chronos have to
do with anything?” Maya asked, leaning back so that the front legs of her chair
were airborne.

“Well Project Chronos is what makes us believe both Project
Nova and Xiahua are traversing different universes. The two sightings of the abnormal beings make us believe they
have and are traveling back and forth between different universes.”

The male agent continued, putting out his cigarette. “Sounds
like something out of a comic-book” Maya teased scratching the bridge of her
nose. “I know right, but this proves that we have been thinking inside the box
about our world the whole time!”

Maya scoffed, her agitation with these loopholes were slowly
reaching dangerous levels. “I just want you all to know, that the phrase
thinking outside the box, is a very inside the box term” she said, pushing away
from her chair.

“I want a full scan of Project Nova and Lynn’s battle area,
with a full report on my desk within the hour.” Maya said, exiting the briefing
room running directly into the arms of her mother.

“And just where are you off too?” there was a certain
overbearing tone within Gwen’s voice, something that screamed disappointment
and pride at the same time, it’s a complicated family.

“SIGMA just paged me, they want me to track down Lynn” Maya
said, starting with a slowly strut to get her mother to walk and talk. “But we
asked you to locate project Nova.” Gwen replied with a deep sigh. “I know mom,
but Lynn and Nova were both last seen in the same location, I believe they’ve
been together this whole time”.

“Maya….”

Gwen called out to her, Maya stopped in her tracks; she knew
what was coming, at this point in her life there was nothing else her mother
could talk about. “When are you going to stop all this settle down and be happy
with someone?”

She turned slightly, taking just a moment to remove her
aviators from her face. She had half a though to just Charlie’s angel roll
right out the window. Even as the awkward silence between mother and daughter
continued, Maya slowly counted down in her head.

“Ugh ahem, never mind…” Gwen said, before turning to head to
the briefing room. “Crisis avoided” Maya
scoffed, heading outside to her motorcycle.

“Miss Lopez, we have a positive frequency on Project Nova;
she just reappeared in Finite City; off the coast of Japan” Maya wheelie in the
middle of the busy Ferrum City streets and belted towards the freeway.

“I forgot to take my pill…” She said, remembering her mother
left it on the counter for her. “Anti-depressants, they keep me grounded, I can
already feel the inside of my body sweating…it’s not good…not good at all.”

Maya’s bike stopped at the point where, Nova’s signature
matched her battle with Lynn and Bishop. “Well if she’s around here….she’ll
show herself.”

"What do you mean you have to go back?" Emerald Canary asked, her arms crossed along her chest as she looked at the young pyro goddess.

"I need those cookies!" Nova exclaimed pointing at her empty box of Koala's March Cookies. "You guys don't have them here and I just went through my last box."

"Ammy... we brought two crates of those cookies here for you... how did you eat them all already!?" Canary exclaimed looking at the crumbless box.

"Have you not ever tried one!? They're amazing!!" Ammy held out the empty box as she held the box above her head. "These cookies... make my world a happy place."

Slightly shaking her head Emerald let out a heavy sigh, waving her hand out for Ammy to just... get away. "Fine, you have three hours, go get your cookies!"

Two hours later in Finite City

Ammy walked out of a local store with a huge smile on her face. Holding onto a box of the delicious cookies she began walking down the sidewalk. She had managed to clean out every single store in the city of their Koala's March Cookies, which took her entire savings she had in her account that she left behind when she left with the Trinity. I mean... no point in keeping a savings account when your traveling across dimensions fighting Nazi's, right?

Popping another Koala shaped cookie in her mouth she began to skip off to her next location. A motorcycle was then heard revving up the street, speeding down as it came to a screeching halt. The woman sitting upon it was looking around as if trying to find something, but the look in her eyes was that of a hunter. Ammy couldn't help but stop in her tracks and glance over at her, which was a huge mistake. It was at that moment the woman's eyes glanced over at her, and locked. Ammy stood there for what seemed hours unable to break away from her stair, like if she suddenly knew, at that instant, she was looking for her.

"..crap..." Ammy whispered as she dropped her cookies and took off in a full sprint, trying to avoid the people who were walking down the sidewalk as well. "Who the hell is she?!" she made a sharp turn and ran down another street, stumbling to keep her momentum going. She COULD just fly out of here, but she didn't want to hurt anyone with her powers. Civilians everywhere, ugh this sucked so bad right now! Her legs carried her to the fish market where she finally stopped, breathing heavy as she rest her back on a crate filled with smelly fish. There weren't very many people here, most of the workers had gone home already, this was good. "Ammy to Trinity, come in!" She pulled out her comlink, hoping it worked in multidimensional.

"Ammy? What's wrong? You still have an hour left." It was Canary, thank god!

"I-I know, but someone... someone is following me, crazy motorcycle chick with red hair and big sunglasses! I need to get back like, now!"

"Um..." was all that was heard for a few seconds. "I can't bring you back right now."

"Wha-!? Why not!?"

"You see... the teleporter is kinda sorta... broken..."

"BROKEN!?" She yelled out only to cover her mouth, crap she had to be quiet!

"When Romanova teleported you, he accidently dropped his coffee on the control panel." You could hear the irritation in her voice. "We're getting it fixed right now."

Nononononononooo this was really bad. "How long?"

"Maybe... an hour?" Canny gave a nervous chuckle.

Slapping her hand to her forehead she let out a heavy sigh, this was not good, this was not good at all. Just then the engine to the bike was heard, it was her. "Ok... an hour... I can totally stall for that long." She looked up to see the woman drive through the fish market before screeching to a stop. Taking in a deep breath she stepped out of her cover, she could keep runny... but that was too exhausting. "Who are you? And what do you want?" Ammy spoke up, already knowing part of the answer, it was always the same 'blah blah your Project Nova!' like if she didn't know who she was. Then there was 'blah blah my boss wants you! or There's a bounty on your head!'. She stood and wait to see if the crimson haired woman was going to give up any information before taking action.

Maya’s bike rolled up to the cornered Nova, she could see
the teen yelling something, and however her voice was muted by the sound of Maya’s
powerful engine. “Shut up kid, tell me what did you do with Xiahua” Maya spat
sternly. Though she was supposed to locate Project Nova as well; Maya’s
priority was in discovering what happened to the Chi-master.

Given the gesture of Nova’s face upon hearing the name, she
figured Ma was going by her nickname. “I’m looking for a woman named Lynn, she
stands about Ye high, has an unhealthy admiration for the color blue” Maya
said, leaning back on her bike. “Don’t
try protecting her, Nova; I know you and her have been in cohorts with each
other ever since Japan. Where have you guys been going, and more importantly
WHERE IS LYNN?”

She could see Nova’s body tense a bit; it suddenly dawned on
Maya that, Lynn had been working with Nova in whatever group she was now a part
of. Though she meant Lynn no harm; it was apparent to her that the information
she needed would have to be forcefully extracted.

“I don’t know what Lynn told you about the Sigmas or more
specifically me, but I will assure you we’re a lot worse; and since it seems
like I’ll have to show you!” Reeving the bike quickly, Maya sent it speeding
towards the young teen much to the dismay of those watching close by.

As the bike sped towards the Teen, Maya landed in a crouched
position and immediately rushed in to follow up. Her foolhardy charged was
backed with an contingency plan, she truly believed Feral Nova was far too
powerful to fight; however she figured her battle experience would aid her in
what she hoped would be a quick bout.

Pushing her hands out, Maya cast a projection of herself to
the far side of Nova to try and briefly capture her attention.

“KISHKO ZEODIA!” Maya screamed, sending a powerful
electricity based drill kick towards the abdomen of Nova; if she landed, the
combo would continue with a cartwheel follow through which would send Nova
airborne.

Ammy just stayed silent the entire time the woman was talking, she wanted Nana, not her? Then she spoke about the Sigma, Nana didn't tell her too much about them... just that she was a part of them once... and they were super duper dangerous. The young goddess could tell the ruby haired woman was getting irritated with her, she wanted answers that she wasn't going to provide. Then... the assault began.

The mortocycle sped quickly towards her she threw her right hand forward, sending a fireball at the bike and causing it to explode on impact. The area rained with flaming mortoscyle parts as the people that were still working the fish market began screaming and scrambling away like roaches to a light. When the explosion cleared the woman was seen rushing towards her left side. "What?" She blinked her eyes, she was fast! She turned her body to completely face her opponent but then, something caught her attention, it was... Maya? Again?! Ammy blinked her eyes a few times in confusion as the projection suddenly vanished. Trying to quickly turn back to face the real Maya, it was too late, the Sigma Soldiers foot slammed into the young girls abdomen, the surge of electricity plowing through her body.

Then the final attack struck her, sending her flying back and landing in a crate of squid. The stench made the young hero gag as she pushed herself up, stumbling to get her stance as she began slipping on the aquatic creatures. "Ack!" She stumbled forward, finally gaining her footing as she pulled a squid from the top of her head.

Her blue eyes glared at the Sigma woman, slowly turning into a deep crimson. It was her turn, she had to protect Nana, no matter what it took. "You'll never find Nana, I'll make sure of it!" Her feet pushed herself forward towards the deadly sigma solider, her hands balled up into fists as she prayed her strength would be more than enough to take down the woman, she didn't want to overuse her fire power, not here in the crowded city. Jumping to the top of a large fish crate she ran along the top towards Maya at full speed, leaping off the edge as she balled both hands together above her head, using the momentum of gravity pulling her down and her sheer strength she brought them both down forcefully at Maya. Landing on the ground and still in a crouching position she then pushed both hands forward as a blast of fire escaped from her palms. Doing a reverse tuck roll she got back up on her feet, bouncing back and forth with a smug grin on her face.

“Listen I don’t want to hurt you kid, just give up the….”
Maya’s attention immediately deviated from the battle on hand; there was a
horrendous rise in energy not too far from here and she was almost completely sure
it was Lynn, but why would she use so much energy in the open? “Huh” she
instantly doubled back, Nova had moved and went on the attack; something she’d
pay for.

“DAMN”

Maya screamed,
tossing her hands up to block the axe handle, to no avail Ammy was just too
strong for her. The brute force sent her forcefully to the ground, her face
smacked against the concrete removing skin from her jaw; blood began to trickle
from her mouth. Struggling to her feet;
she was soon sent reeling into a barrel of cooked crab-legs; the painful burn
coursed its way through her chest.

“She’s tough, and strong; those flames are defiantly a
problem…” Pulling herself from the barrel Maya dropped low trying to catch her
breath; she couldn’t shake her mind off the massive energy output not too far
from their location.

“Take this!” Maya screamed, tossing a nearby fire
extinguisher at Nova in a desperate attempt to gain an advantage. Running full
speed, she made a fist with her gauntlets and energized her elemental energy
strike.

Feigning a knee strike, Maya brought her right elbow across
to strike at Nova’s face, hoping the recoil would send Nova’s face directly
into her ICE charged punch. The punch would cause frost to build over the face temporarily
if hit, Maya knew the young child would instantly resort to her fire; so she
backed up and sent an electric punch towards the ground, hoping the energy
would combust and send the young teen upwards,

Maya would complete her attack
by jumping into an uppercut also backed with her electric energies.

Nova watched confused as a red object came flying at her, catching it in her still searing hands, she noted it was a fire extinguisher, and just a second later, it exploded in her hands. A white film erupted from the canister, imitating snow. Ammy was heard coughing and waving her arms around frantically as a chill was sent throughout her body. Opening her eyes she shook the white mess off her face just seconds too late, her face jerked down to the left which was instantly met to a punch to the nose, but instead of just pain... a thin layer of ice face covered her entire face. Ammy jerked back, whipping her body around as her hands clung onto the ice, in a panic state, unable to breath, see, smell or hear.

Not wasting time she burst into golden aura, the ice melting instantly as the young hero let out a heavy gasp for air. But it seemed every time she would recover from one attack... another was ready to make impact not even seconds later. A surge of electricity coursed through her once again, the young hero let out a painful cry as her body was thrown into the air by the powerful attack followed by a uppercut to the chin. The impact caused the hero to fly back into the wall of a building. Her smaller frame skid down the side of the brick wall, leaving an impression as she landed slumped forward to the ground.

Her muscle began lightly twitching involuntary due to the huge intake of electricity she had just been exposed to. Her breath was a little shaky as she painfully forced herself to stand. Trying to shake the twitch out of her arms she spat some accumulated blood from between her lips, staining the ground as her blue eyes glared back at Maya. Her lips pressed forcefully against each other as she took a couple of steps forward, her electric attacks where overwhelming, she would be able to take only so much before her body would give out on her.

Her attacks were devastating on Ammy, and she knew going into hand to hand combat with her would be suicide as long as she had those gauntlets giving her that power... she was going to have to resort to her elemental power.

Eyes flickering red as her hands became aflame, her feet planted on the ground as she began throwing a volley of fireballs at the woman. But she knew it would only be a matter of time before she would begin to evade her attack. Watching as near by crates around the area caught on fire she threw her last fireball as she then outstretched her hand. Manipulating the living flames all around the area she caused every area the flames touched to explode at once. The ground shook violently as Nova took this time to push her last move forward. While the area was recovering from the sudden outburst of explosion, the fire goddess used the flames around to fly at amazing speeds at ground level towards her opponent, her arms stretched out wide as she attempted to spear tackle her through one of the canning manufacturers. If she tackled her or not, Nova would go through the building, causing the entire building to shutter from the impact as canned fish scattered all over the area. Groaning to herself the young hero pushed herself up from one of the machines she ended up collided into.

The building stunk even more than outside of fish, and Ammy couldn't hold back a disgusted expression as she scrunched her nose, trying to stay focused on the fight at hand.

Maya fixed the tie on her suit, wondering if her attacks
were able to put down the dangerous project. “She’s a lot more powerful than I
could’ve imagined” Maya grunted, still rubbing her head from Nova’s axe handle. Blood continued to course its way down
the face of the Ruby haired assassin; she very agitatedly, wiped it from her
face; only to just narrowly be hit by a fireball; her eye’s turned back to
Nova; the fire nymph, let loose a barrage of fireballs; Maya used her skills to
parry most of them; the heat from each fire ball causing her to get more and
slow.

One of the flaming balls hit her dead in the chest, burning
through her chest causing blood to filter through her eyes. Breathing what
appeared to be black smoke Maya rose in a staggered; but she had the
wherewithal to see what was happening, activating the flame gem in her gloves,
she held the flames in her hand using them as a cushion against the foreign flames.

The massive explosion knocked Maya’s guard off further; as
she stumbled back; her body doubled over from the force of the spear tackle.
Her body ripped through vending stands before being deposited a little ways
off.

Her limps moved involuntarily, coughing up blood in the
shadow of charred fish shards; Maya turned on her side and instantly began vomiting.
Was there even a way she could contend with Nova? Pushing off the ground, Maya
staggered again; blood spit from her mouth as she saw the downed Nova; trying
to get up.

She cast a projection of her self
immediately in front of Nova, all the while attacking from the back, using her
electrity again; she tried to snap an STF on Nova; with her gloves pressed up
against her cheek. This would send an uncalculated amount of electricity
through Nova’s body, the hope was to stop Nova from using her flames, which
would cause a corresponding explosion that dealt substantial damage to both if
she did.